Born of Two Worlds
by Bellarsam Chrisjulittle
Summary: The summer that she turns eleven, Phoebe Ruth Scamander comes to the first true crossroad in her life: the most important decision of her life thus far. No matter what her parents may feel, this is her decision alone, but at least she knows that they will stand by whatever choice she makes.
1. Two Letters

_**July 15**__**th**_

In a cottage close to the Dorset coast, three of the four members of the Scamander family were eating breakfast quietly. There was an air of solemnity over the table. Newt, the father, was quiet as he poured out some more orange juice. Phoebe, the eleven-year-old daughter, listlessly stirred her porridge around in her bowl. Philip, the five-year-old son, sniffled and wiped one eye.

Noticing this, Newt reached to his left and stroked his son's dark head. "There, there, son," he said softly. "If you want to cry, go ahead. It's always sad when this happens, and I wish that it didn't, but that's the way that nature is sometimes."

Phoebe nodded, having learned this lesson a few years ago. She then tried to smile at her little brother. "If you want, Phil, we can go down to the beach after breakfast and jump the waves."

Philip looked at his sister and managed a smile while he nodded.

Newt smiled at his daughter. He knew that jumping the waves was a game that Philip preferred. He reached under the table and squeezed her hand proudly. Phoebe gave him a grateful smile before finally eating her porridge.

A few moments later, the kitchen door opened and the missing member of the family made the scene complete: the mother, Porpentina.

"Mummy!" cried both of her children, who got up from the table and ran to her. She hugged them both to her, laughing softly with pleasure at this spontaneous display of love.

"Well, hello!" she exclaimed, looking over at her husband, who was smiling at the sight of her.

"Welcome home, love," he said, standing up and giving her a soft kiss.

She returned it, but by now she had sensed something of the melancholy atmosphere. "Has something happened?"

Newt sighed as they all returned to the table. "Well, Lotus had her babies this morning. Five are healthy, but one only lived a few minutes."

Tina sighed. Lotus was one of the mooncalves, and she knew how much the children had been looking forward to the birth of her babies (Newt would always let them have first choice of names). She stroked her husband's and her children's heads before sitting down to the table. "Was it a boy or a girl?"

"A boy," sniffled Philip. "I named him Fred."

Tina smiled softly at him as she stroked his cheek. "That's a fine name, Phil." She turned to Phoebe and Newt. "But the other babies are healthy? Please tell me all about them."

This caused the atmosphere to lighten considerably as they eagerly told their mother about the new babies: Sarah, Wilfred, Helen, David, and Louise. Newt happily let his children do most of the talking; it never ceased to warm his heart to see them enthuse about magical creatures.

The happy descriptions were interrupted by a tapping at the kitchen window above the sink. All turned to see their family owl, Gideon, waiting to be let in.

Phoebe leapt up from her chair and hurried to open the window. She loved having the task of getting the morning mail. Gideon happily flew inside and landed on the back of Phoebe's empty chair, holding out his right leg obediently. While Philip happily gave Gideon a piece of his bacon to eat, Phoebe untied that morning's edition of _The Daily Prophet_ and handed it to her mother. She then removed the curled-up letters, and Gideon relaxed his leg as he happily devoured the bacon slice.

Newt ate his eggs and patiently waited for Phoebe to hand over the letters to him. She still hadn't done so by the time she had finished them. So, he looked up at his daughter, still standing by her chair and holding the mail. Specifically, she was holding two letters, one in each hand, looking from one to the other with wide eyes.

Because she was looking at the back of them rather than the front, Newt could discern that they were both addressed to Phoebe. Newt felt his spine straighten as he realized just what one of those letters would be. He didn't dare speak a word.

Finally, Phoebe looked up and cleared her throat purposefully. Tina lowered the paper and Philip looked away from Gideon (who flew out the window to his shed a moment later). When she had the full family's attention, she said softly, "I have a letter…from Hogwarts."

Tina gave a delighted gasp, Philip clapped his hands in excitement, and Newt just grinned like the proud papa that he was. He knew that the letter had to come any day now, but that didn't make this any less thrilling.

But Phoebe was not finished yet. "And I have a letter…from Ilvermorny, too."

The grin froze on Newt's face while Tina gave another gasp. Philip was now bouncing up and down in his chair. "Oooo! Both Mummy's school _and _Papa's school! Open them, Phee, open them!"

Phoebe let out a little nervous laugh as she sat back down in her chair. Her parents and even Philip remained quiet while she opened and read each letter quietly.

Her face remained calm, neutral, giving nothing away. But her eyes, her dark eyes inherited from her mother, were bright and filled with fire as she read each written word. In moments like these, Newt thought that she looked so much like her mother. Most of the time, it was him that she resembled physically because she had inherited his tawny crop of hair (which she usually kept plaited in one or two tails) and his freckled skin (which he could only apologize for). But her eyes and her expression were pure Tina.

Finally, she looked up and look at each one of them before a smile bloomed on her face. "I've been accepted to both!"

Tina covered her mouth with both hands, hiding the huge smile that spread across her face for a moment. Then, she let it show as she let out a delighted exclamation of joy. Newt smiled too, but he remained silent. Philip hopped off his chair and hugged his sister, who returned the hug with a breathless laugh.

"Does this mean you get to go to both? And that so will I?"

The five-year-old's innocent questions caused an immediate tension to fill the kitchen. Phoebe's body stiffened as her eyes became bright; Tina's expression went from delighted to somber; Newt's smile faded while his expression remained unreadable.

It was Tina who broke the silence. As she answered her son's questions, she looked sympathetically but meaningfully at her daughter.

"No, Phil. Phoebe will have to choose between the two of them. Do they give a deadline?"

Phoebe nodded. "Both give the end of the month, the 31st."

Tina nodded as she stood up from the table. She walked to Phoebe and cupped her cheek; her gaze remained strong but comforting. "Then you have some thinking to do. Your father and I are right here for you if you need to talk about it, but this is completely your decision, peanut. Okay?"

Phoebe held her mother's gaze for a long minute before nodding. Tina smiled and kissed Phoebe's forehead before straightening and yawning.

"Well, after that all-nighter, I am going to take a nap. What plans have you three made?"

"We're going to the beach!" said Philip with excitement.

Tina laughed and ruffled his hair. "On a morning like this, that is a _great _idea! If you three are still there when I wake up, I'll join you."

Both of her children kissed her before heading out of the kitchen to change into their swimsuits. Newt also got up to follow them, but Tina touched his arm as he passed her, causing him to stop.

"Are you alright?" she asked his profile.

He managed the briefest of glances and the briefest of smiles before saying quickly, "Of course, love, have a good rest," and pecking her cheek before leaving the room.

Tina stood there with a worried frown on her face for a few moments before heading upstairs.


	2. The Argument

_**Late that night…**_

After putting both children to bed, Newt went down into the vast basement of the cottage, which was the home of more than a few magical creatures. It was Newt's usual routine to check on all of the creatures before turning in for the night. However, when midnight came and went and Newt had not come back upstairs, Tina began to worry. She put down the book she had been reading after marking her place, pulled on a summer robe over her nightgown, and slipped on her slippers before leaving the bedroom.

She quietly descended down into the basement after checking that both children were fast asleep. Wondering what could be keeping Newt down here, Tina hoped that the mooncalf babies were alright; it would break the children's hearts if they lost another one, especially Philip. But it was not among the mooncalves that she found her husband.

After a while, she finally found him in one of the enclosures that was currently empty. Up until two months ago, it had been the temporary home of a wounded griffin that Newt had nursed back to health and then back into the wild. He now appeared to be manually replacing the soil and grass of the paddock with no magic at all. He had dirt stains all over him, so he'd been working at it for some time by now.

"Newt!" she called from the edge of the paddock.

Her husband acknowledged her presence by slowing in his digging for a moment and a brief nod in her direction.

Tina's brow furrowed. All day, she had gotten the distinct impression that her husband had been avoiding her. When they were with the children, his behavior was perfectly normal. But not once today had he gone out of his way to steal private moments with her as he usually did – a conversation, a touch, a kiss. And his behavior now…oh, yes, something was off.

"Should we be expecting a new guest in the morning, at the rate you're turning over this paddock?" she asked, trying to keep her tone light and teasing.

Newt answered absently, not looking at her and continuing to work. "No, I just thought…may as well do it now rather than later…"

All pretense at cheerfulness or teasing dropped from Tina at his latest display of passive-aggressiveness. She set her jaw, walked across the dirt, and stopped in front of his stooped form. "Newt," she said firmly but softly, pleadingly. "Talk to me, please. You've been distant with me all day."

Newt stopped in his work, was still for a long minute, and then stood up. He turned the spade in his hands over and over again before finally meeting his wife's eye (barely, through his fringe) and asking, "Did you know?"

Tina's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Could you be more specific, dear?"

"Did you know that Phoebe would be invited Ilvermorny as well as Hogwarts?"

Tina's eyebrows shot upwards. So it _was _about Phoebe's double acceptance. That's when he'd started behaving like this, but Tina hadn't wanted to believe that was the reason. So, to counter his intense and suspicious tone, she decided to answer calmly and honestly.

"Not for sure, no. I knew it was a possibility, not a probability."

Newt narrowed his eyes at her; this felt like a slap to Tina. "You didn't write to the school? To ask or –"

"_What?_" hissed Tina, anger rising in her heart. "You think I would do something like that without telling you or Phoebe?"

Newt threw the spade on the ground and paced away from her. "I just…I was completely shocked this morning and you didn't seem that surprised at all."

"Like I said, Newt, I knew it was possible," said Tina, one hand on her hip and her other pointing to her heart. "Because I'm American, Newt, and an Ilvermorny graduate. I wasn't sure if they would consider Phoebe, since she's only half-American and she was born and raised in England. But they did, and I don't see why you're upset about this."

Newt stopped in his pacing and looked at her. For a moment, he looked like a beast caught in a bright light. Then, he put on an indignant expression. "Tina, it's not fair! She shouldn't have to make this kind of decision, especially at her age. She grew up hearing stories from both of us about how much we loved our schools. You think this decision will be easy for her?"

Tina sighed and crossed her arms. "Of course not. How could it be? And I agree that it's not fair on her. But, sooner or later, we all face choices like this. And I believe that our daughter is intelligent and mature enough to handle this and make her own decision. Do you?"

Newt spluttered through his response. "Of course I do, Tina! I just…" He paced away again, running a dirt-stained hand through his messy hair. "This should have been straightforward…she was born in England, therefore goes to Hogwarts…"

Though he spoke more to himself now than to her, Tina still heard every word and the tone in which they were said. Again, a cold fury rose in her as she stepped closer to him. "I don't believe you…" she breathed, ice in each syllable. "This isn't just about Phoebe having a big decision to make, is it?"

Newt's silence (and continued avoidance of eye contact) was the only answer she got. She let out a shaky breath and put a lot of effort into controlling her tone of voice.

"I know that we bicker good-naturedly about who went to the best school, but never for one moment did I think…Ilvermorny is just as good a school as Hogwarts!"

"It's _not_ the best option for her, Tina!" Newt snapped, turning back around to face Tina. Both his expression and his tone of voice had a hint of desperation in them.

"You give me one good reason why not!" Her anger was good and strong now.

"W-well…the distance, for one!" The desperation was still in his tone and eyes. "For Merlin's sake, Tina, we know how big that distance can seem more than anybody! And have you forgotten there's a bloody war going on that America is fighting in now as well as all of Europe?"

"No, I haven't forgotten," sneered Tina. "But you've clearly forgotten that nearly all of the fighting is taking place in Europe, not America, and Grindelwald hasn't given America one thought for nearly fifteen years. Perhaps that distance would be a small price to pay for safety."

Her husband spluttered a bit before giving his next (and much worse) argument. "Tina, Hogwarts has a much longer and more distinguished history than –"

Tina cut him off with a spiteful laugh. "Seriously? You're going to turn into the classic British snob now after nearly fourteen years of marriage? You know, and have always known, that Ilvermorny is _just _as good a school as Hogwarts is! Look at me! _I'm_ an Ilvermorny graduate, and I turned out alright!"

"Yes, and so was your sister!"

Those words – especially that heart-breaking word '_was'_ – were out before he could stop them, and the moment they were out, Newt clapped a hand over his mouth as if to take them back, but of course he couldn't. Tina, in turn, became as white as a sheet. Her hands clenched into very tight fists, her jaw clenched just as tightly, and – worst of all – tears filled her dark eyes.

Though he felt like his throat was swelling up with his own shame, Newt choked out, "T-Tina, love, I didn't –"

"_You've – said – enough,_" Tina hissed, and Newt shut his mouth. He watched his wife shut her eyes and take a very deep breath in and out before speaking again. "Here is what we're both going to do." She opened her eyes, which were still bright with tears. "I am going upstairs to take a long, hot bath."

Newt couldn't help but wince. This is what Tina always did whenever she needed to cry and didn't want the children to see her like that. Usually, Newt was with her when she did this, but he knew that he wouldn't be welcome now.

"And _you _will stay down here until two things happen: when this paddock – and every other paddock – are absolutely spotless, and when you are ready to talk about what is _really _bothering you."

With that, Tina turned on her heel and hurried away and out of the basement.


	3. Reconciliation

_**The next morning, before dawn…**_

To the few people who were awake at this terribly early hour between the night and the dawn, it would have come as no surprise that it was steadily raining outside. Tina Scamander was awake, and she wouldn't have been surprised at all. But even though she was standing at the bedroom window with the curtains open, she barely noticed the steady pouring of rain outside for two reasons.

One, there was rain of her own making pouring from her eyes down her cheeks. Two, her mind's eye was much farther away than her present surroundings. It was always thus when her late sister was mentioned. No matter how hard Tina tried, her mind would always go to the worst memories that she had of Queenie rather than the best. The worst was that terrible day in Rio, when Queenie had given everything to help them escape, including her own life…

When she heard the bedroom door softly open and close behind her – and the distinct tread of her husband's feet – Tina's body stiffened and her arms tightened around her torso. She didn't turn around to face him; she didn't trust what would come out of her mouth.

Newt, for his part, was physically exhausted, but that was the last thing on his mind right now. He had cleaned himself with a _scourgify _spell before coming back upstairs rather than allow himself the luxury of a proper bath or shower. He had also peeked into both of the children's rooms, and it relieved him to find that both were sound asleep and oblivious to what was going on between him and their mother.

Now, staring at his wife's silhouette against the rain outside, Newt felt his heart breaking knowing that he'd hurt her. He knew that he had to explain himself, and he'd been trying to figure out how to do that as he'd tidied every single paddock in the basement. Hopefully, Tina would understand.

"When I got my acceptance letter to Hogwarts, I wasn't happy at first."

Tina showed that she was listening by turning her head ever so slightly so that he could just make out her profile against the window.

"I didn't want to leave home. I felt safe there, you see, with my mother and her hippogriffs and my own room full of books and secret pets. But I had to go, and I knew that. So I went." He sighed. "You know everything that I remember about my days at school. You know how much I love Hogwarts, have always loved it, despite feeling lonely so many times. And you also know…how I came to leave Hogwarts. What happened with Leta and never getting to properly finish school…"

A moment of silence. Tina didn't move but Newt could tell that she was listening to him.

"I look at our daughter every day, and I am…_in awe…_of how wonderful she is. I've known, for a long time, that when she goes to school, it will be where she will thrive and become as wonderful a witch as she is a human being. I…I always assumed that it would happen at Hogwarts, and that relieved me because it meant that her time there would be better than mine…"

Newt stopped, and he let his face fall in his hands for a moment. He composed himself before lifting his head and continuing.

"I know now how selfish this is, Tina, especially when I remember all that you told me about your own time at school. You're right: Ilvermorny would be just as good for Phoebe as Hogwarts would be. I do know that both schools would be fine choices for her, and she is more than capable of making her own choice about this. And Tina…"

His voice choked as tears fell from his eyes. But he wiped them away and forced himself to finish what he started.

"I'm so, so sorry…for everything that I said. Most of all, for what I said about Queenie…I didn't mean it, I truly didn't, and I'll never forget what she sacrificed for our family…I wanted to end the argument, not hurt you, but I know there is no excuse."

Finished, Newt breathed deeply in order to not break down. This was a long speech for him, a man more suited to action than words. Now, he had to wait for her response and hope that his words had been the right ones.

A very long few minutes passed before Tina responded. She took a deep, shuddering breath as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. She then walked towards her husband, her gaze lowered to the floor. When she reached out for his hands, he immediately took them with relief. When she pressed her forehead to his and met his eyes, Newt could only squeeze her hands tight and hold her gaze.

"Let's both promise, right now, to leave this decision completely to Phoebe. And that we support her, whole-heartedly, whatever choice she makes. Please?"

Newt lifted their hands and kissed her fingers. "I promise, love."

Finally, the stiffness in Tina's body relaxed as she let herself fall against her husband. And – as he had always done and always would – he caught her and held on tight.

"_I forgive you…_" she breathed.

Newt sniffed, overwhelmed, burying his face against her warm neck. "_I love you so much_…"

Then, he picked up his exhausted wife and carried her to their bed, knowing that they would finally be able to sleep.

* * *

Two hours later, Phoebe Scamander woke up. Her sleep had not been very peaceful, and she hadn't expected it to be. All the previous day, she had deliberately kept her mind away from the big decision that lay in front of her. She told herself over and over again, _You have time…You have plenty of time…_

Hearing a steady downpour, Phoebe got out of bed and went to her window. Pulling the curtain back, she smiled at the rain coming down outside. She liked the rain, especially the summer rain. Philip wouldn't be as happy, she knew, because he loved to play outside. Hopefully, this July day would be warm enough to allow for some splashing around puddles outside.

Taking care to be as quiet as a mouse, Phoebe slipped out of her bedroom and into the bathroom. When she was finished in there, she decided to see whether one or both of her parents were up yet. Her father was probably up already and in the basement with the creatures. Her mother would probably still be in bed or just getting up, since she didn't have to work today.

So, when Phoebe came to her parents' bedroom door, she opened it just enough so that she could peek in. What she found surprised her, but certainly not in a bad way.

Both of her parents were still in bed and fast asleep. Her father was spooning her mother, and they both looked so peaceful and so quiet. Phoebe let herself just watch them for a minute, a soft smile on her face. Then, she silently shut the door, leaving them to keep sleeping.

Phoebe then returned to her bedroom in order to change out of her nightgown and into a comfortable pair of black trousers and a periwinkle blouse. She then made herself comfortable on her bed and picked up her brush and a ribbon from her night-table. Taming her hair was a time-consuming process every morning, but Phoebe was disciplined about it. If she wasn't, she'd have to keep it as short as her father's just to keep it under control. But, despite the work, she liked having her hair fall just below her collar-bone.

When her hair was securely in a single plait behind her, Phoebe put on her shoes and went to her brother's room. Opening it softly, she saw that Philip was just waking up, rolling around a bit and rubbing his eyes. She slipped inside and shut the door behind her. "Morning, Phil," she said.

The five-year-old moaned softly as he sat up.

Phoebe gave him a hug before saying, "I'll make breakfast for us this morning. Mummy and Papa are still sleeping, so let's leave them be for a while, ok?"


End file.
